01/09/10

Genesis 24-26

Chapter 24 features the familiar story of Isaac and Rebekah.  Abraham wants to find a wife for his son Isaac from among his own people.  He sends a servant to "Aram Naharaim," to the town of Nahor, where the servant finds Rebekah drawing water from the well.  After some discussion with Rebekah, in which she responds in the way that the servant had prayed to the Lord that she would, she agrees to go back and become Isaac's bride.

In chapter 25, Abraham, having taken a new wife, fathers more children (including Midian), but still "left everything he owned to Isaac" when he died.  He was buried (by his sons Isaac and Ishmael) in the cave in Hebron with Sarah.  The rest of the chapter gives genealogies, at least for one generation, for Ishmael and Isaac.  As for Ishmael, "His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers."  Isaac and Rebekah have twins, Esau and Jacob.  Esau is the older, but sells his birthright to his brother Jacob in exchange for a meal, for "some bread and some lentil stew."

Chapter 26 features the third iteration of the "she's my sister, not my wife" story.  First it was Abram and Sarai in Egypt with Pharoah (GEN 12).  Then it was Abraham and Sarah in Gerar with Abimelech (GEN 20).  Now it's Isaac and Rebekah in Gerar with Abimelech.  And there's more echoing in the second half of the chapter, as Isaac and Abimelech (and Phicol the commander of his forces) negotiate a pact over a well, much as Abraham and Abimelech (and Phicol the commander of his forces) did at Beersheba (GEN 21).

Thoughts, questions, issues
• Isaac and Rebekah are cousins, as her grandfather Nahor was Abraham's brother.
• We've seen a lot of tribal intermarriage in this book.
• It's not clear to me what Rebekah's motivation would be.  If the Lord has told her to go, we don't hear about it.
• The end of the last verse in chapter 24 is, to our modern sensibilities, odd.  Isaac marries Rebekah and "was comforted after his mother's death."  That isn't what we would normally consider to be an important outcome of a marriage.
• Abraham took another wife and had more children, but was buried with Sarah after his death.
• I commented earlier that I'm not sure I understand exactly what "despise" means in the Old Testament.  We see it again in chapter 25, as Esau "despised" his birthright.  There seems to be a "turned away from" or "rejected" kind of connotation.
• It's not clear how cheaply he sold it.  If he was actually dying of hunger, well, it was the price of life.  The passage doesn't seem as if his situation were desperate, but again, it's not clear.  At least not to me.
• I'm starting to feel very stupid about this "sister not wife" story.  How is that I've read Genesis at least a couple of times and never realized that it came over and over again?¹  And if it appears over and over again, there must be a point, right?  Why don't I see it?
• The story of the treaty between Isaac and Abimelech in chapter 26 is so similar to the story of the treaty between Abraham and Abimelech in chapter 21 that I wonder (again) if this isn't one story, corrupted and told twice.  To emphasize two of the points of similarity, in both stories, Abimelech is accompanied by Phicol, and in both stories are we given a variant of "to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba."

Proverbs 9

Thoughts, questions, issues
• "The fear of the LORD" in verse 10 is an echo of chapter 1.  Indeed, it's really the central point of the book.  If one came out of Proverbs with nothing else, it seems to me that it's been of value.
• There is some practical wisdom in this chapter.  "Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult" is not debatable.  Anyone who has spent any time on the internet has seen this section in action many times.

¹ - I suppose that if you aren't reading it, start to finish, in a fairly short time period, it's actually not hard to miss.  And most Bible reading, at least in my experience, tends to be in small chunks from different books.  Certainly, the act of commenting as I go is forcing me to notice things that I've never really noticed before.

² - Chapter 9 in paragraph form:

Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.  She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city.  "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.  "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.  Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding. 

"Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.  Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. 

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  For through me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.  If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer." 

The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge.  She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way.  "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.  "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!"  But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

01/08/2010

Genesis 21-23

Chapter 21 begins with the birth of Isaac, just as God had promised.  Abraham was a 100 year old new dad, and Sarah was a 90-something new mom.  But as Isaac was weaned, the friction between Sarah and Hagar increased.  Sarah begged Abraham to send them away, and God told Abraham to do what Sarah wanted, because it was "through Isaac that your offspring [b] will be reckoned."  Hagar and Ishmael went off through the desert, and when the water was gone, she left him under a bush to die.  But an Angel appeared and led them to water, so they survived and lived in the desert.  "God was with the boy as he grew up."  Abraham and Abimelech formed a treaty that Abraham (who had God's support) would "not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants."

In chapter 22 God tested Abraham.  He instructed Abraham to take his son Isaac, through who he had promised to make a great nation, into the mountains and sacrifice him.  When Abraham was just about to do so, the Lord provided a ram to take his place, but Abraham had demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice his son.  The chapter ends with a couple of incongruous verses of genealogy about the sons borne to Milcah and Nahor.

Chapter 23 sees the death of Sarah at 127 years old, in Hebron in Canaan.  Abraham negotiated for the rights to the field of Ephron the Hittite in which to bury her, and "Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre...was deeded to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city."  He buried Sarah in the cave, and "the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site."

Thoughts, questions, issues
• Here's another thing about the Abraham/Abimelech story from chapter 20 - it feels out of place.  It seems as if it is stuck in to the middle of the Isaac story.  There's no reference to Hagar or Ishmael, no mention of God's promise.  It just doesn't seem to go between 19 and 21.
• I continue to think that the God of Abraham, as portrayed in these middle chapters of Genesis, does not come across as a God of love that created the universe and wants us to love and honor him.
• This is going to sound silly, but when I read God's demand that Abraham sacrifice his son, I'm reminded of James T. Kirk's question, "what need has God of a starship?"
• Abraham talked to God, saw visions of God, heard the word of God.  But when a message is as contrary to what you believe God to be as the message to sacrifice Isaac was, how do you trust it?  Human sacrifice was a pagan activity.
• I have no idea what the Milcah/Nahor genealogy is there for.  I have to assume that some of those names are going to come up again.
• There's a lot of emphasis in the last chapter about the land being Abraham's, being deeded to him, and the Hittites acknowledging it.

Proverbs 8

Thoughts, questions, issues

• Interesting to have "wisdom" speaking in first person, anthropomorphized.
• Fascinating to have wisdom predating creation, as "the LORD brought me forth as the first of his works."
• Other than that, there's not much of practical value here.  The passage is largely metaphorical, symbolic and poetic. 

¹ - Proverbs 8 in paragraph form:

Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?  On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud:

"To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind.  You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding.  Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.  My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness.  All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse.  To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge.  Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

"I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.  To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power. By me kings reign and rulers make laws that are just; by me princes govern, and all nobles who rule on earth.  I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.  With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.  My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver.  I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing wealth on those who love me and making their treasuries full. 

", before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began.  When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world.  I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.  Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind. 

"Now then, my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.  Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it.  Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.  For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the LORD.  But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death."

01/06/2010

Genesis 15-17

We've already seen God promise the land of Canaan to Abram. In chapters 15-17, we see the establishment of a formal covenant between God and Abram, whom he renames Abraham.

Chapter 15 begins with the Lord appearing to Abram in a vision and telling him that a great nation will be established of his descendants. Abram points out that he doesn't actually have any children and God assures him that he will. God instructs him to perform a sacrifice, and they establish a covenant.

Chapter 16 has Sarai, barren to this point, offering her maid Hagar to Abram as a vessel for producing an heir. But after Hagar is impregnated, she begins "to despise" Sarai. Sarai mistreats her and Hagar flees, only to have an angel of the Lord appear to her and send her back with news that the Lord would "so increase [her] descendants that they will be too numerous to count." So she returned and "bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne."

Then in chapter 17, the Lord confirms his covenant with Abram. He renames him Abraham ("for I have made you a father of many nations") and gives him "the whole land of Canaan." He also renames Sarai to Sarah. He sets circumcision as the sign of the covenant. He tells Abraham that Sarah will bear him a son and they are to call him Isaac. And then Abraham, and all of the men of his house, "that very day" were circumcised.

Thoughts, questions, issues
• Earlier, Abram spoke with God, or God spoke to Abram, and there really wasn't any detail about the communication. It sounded as if God were corporeal and they were sitting and chatting. Here, God is portrayed as appearing to Abram "in a vision."
• There are a lot of verses in these passages that can be read in multiple ways because of so many pronouns. Or rather, so few. 15:6, for example - "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." This may be clear in the Hebrew, as they may decline their pronouns, but in English, that could be "he [Abram] credited it to him [God] as righteousness" or "he [God] attributed it to him [Abram] as righteousness." I assume that the latter is the correct reading, but it's not clear from the English version.
• God tells Abram about the captivity in, and exodus from, Egypt. Given that these stories, however they were handed down, weren't necessarily written until the time of the exodus, this is the kind of thing that leads people to believe that they are myths.
• I'm not sure that I understand what the word "despise" means in the Old Testament. The contexts in which it is used seems to carry a connotation other than "hate," which is what I always thought it meant. Maybe that's close enough, but it doesn't feel right. There seems to be a sense of contempt, which I've never considered to be an aspect of despite. I'm probably wrong, but the usage here, for Hagar's feelings toward Sarah, just doesn't feel like "despise" to me, so I guess I'm not quite understanding it.
• It's not clear to me why the Angel's message - "He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers" - made Hagar think going back was a good idea. Or did she do it in order to cause torment, difficulty, problems for Sarah?
• The covenant is only one-sided until chapter 17. God has told Abram/Abraham a couple of times that he will the father of many nations, that his descendants would be a chosen people, but it isn't until chapter 17 that any requirements are laid on them. It's all one-sided - this is what the LORD God will do - until then.
• Abram didn't have to spend much time with the book of baby names.

Proverbs 6

Chapter 6 of Proverbs¹ contains exhortations to wisdom, pleas for the listener to hear and follow the lessons, and suggestions that the seductress or adultress is to be avoided. It is not the same as chapter 5, but, as I've already noted, the message tends to get repetitive. I'm sure that this is intended to emphasize and reinforce the message, but it's hard to take much from it in big chunks.

Thoughts, questions, issues
• There is a particularly memorable section in this chapter, though. The narrator lists seven things that the LORD hates, including "a heart that devises wicked schemes." That one is interesting because most admonitions in Proverbs, and elsewhere in the code of laws, are against behaviors. Here, we find that, even if we do not put these wicked schemes into action, just "devising" them is known and hated by God. It's indicative of the approach and attitude to the inner life that Jesus will later echo in the sermon on the mount.
• The section against adultery in this chapter does seem to be an actual "avoid adultery" message, rather than the "remain faithful to God" metaphor that I felt in the last one.
• I believe that this passage pre-dates Aesop's The Ant And The Grasshopper, but it carries the same message. The ant is used as an examplar of a kind of wisdom - it "has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest."

¹ -

Proverbs 6
Warnings Against Folly

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up dissension. Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:

• haughty eyes,
• a lying tongue,
• hands that shed innocent blood,
• a heart that devises wicked schemes,
• feet that are quick to rush into evil,
• a false witness who pours out lies
• and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

My son, keep your father's commands and do not forsake your mother's teaching. Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life, keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.

Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished. Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house.

But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away; for jealousy arouses a husband's fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.